Launch of the DARIAH South-East European Regional Hub

A DARIAH Regional Hub (DRH) is a representative consortium of institutions from geographically close countries that serves the aims of DΑRΙΑΗ at a regional level and is officially recognised by DARIAH-EU. The main criterion for establishing a DRH is geographic proximity because cultural, social, historical and/or linguistic similarities that can be found in geographically close countries constitute an excellent basis for fruitful collaboration on joint projects. DARIAH Regional Hubs have existed in the past alongside projects such as Humanities at Scale and DESIR. In 2023, DARIAH-EU formalised the mechanism as a permanent part of community building in DARIAH.

The SEE DARIAH Regional Hub includes nine institutions across six countries. It is co-led by the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” in Bulgaria and the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Research in Zagreb, Croatia, with participating institutions in Greece, the Academy of Athens & the Athens University of Economics and Business; in Cyprus, the Cyprus Institute and the University of Cyprus; in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the University of Sarajevo; and in Slovenia, the National Library of Slovenia and Institute of Contemporary History.

The goals of this Hub are to develop a regional digital humanities network, to promote mutual understanding between researchers across borders, share knowledge and expertise while raising awareness about digital humanities methods and tools in the region. The SEE Hub should also expand DARIAH’s presence in non-Member countries, and help promote collaboration on projects and initiatives that address common interests and challenges in the Balkan peninsula. These goals will be accomplished via hosting events to build community, developing education resources on DH tools, methods and workflows, exploring funding opportunities, and encouraging information exchange between the partners.

“We’re excited to see that the announcement of the Hub has already generated strong interest, with institutions from North Macedonia and Montenegro eager to join right after its launch at the conference,” said Koraljka Kuzman Šlogar co-coordinator of the SEE Hub from the Institute of Ethnology and and Folklore Research in Zagreb.

“The establishment of this Hub is the fruit of the common efforts of many people and institutions across the region. Using our common heritage and shared research interests and methods as a basis, I believe we can further promote the causes of both (Digital) Arts and Humanities and of DARIAH’s network of scholars”, Dimitar Iliev, co-coordinator of the SEE Hub from the University of Sofia, stated.

Members of a DRΗ can be institutions from DARIAH Member Countries, DARIAH Observer Countries and non-member countries. Both DARIAH Cooperating Partners and non-affiliated institutions from non-member countries are allowed to join as long as the overall goals of the regional association are in line with DARIAH’s mission to “empower research communities with digital methods to create, connect and share knowledge about culture and society.”

You can find out more on DRHs here.